Some of the State’s Most Powerful Lobbies Oppose PSE&G’s $4 Billion Grid-Upgrade Plan

March 19, 2013 – In The News

NJ Spotlight

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Attorney Steven Goldenberg wrote a letter to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities regarding ratepayer coalition. The contents of the letter were featured in an NJ Spotlight article describing the concerns addressed by Goldberg and several others.

In the letter Goldenberg urged the board to consider that consumers’ interests would be best served by the thorough evaluation of PSE&G’s energy proposal and other utility proposals within the context of a base rate case proceeding. PSE&G’s proposal is to modernize New Jersey’s power grid in order to avert widespread outages, similar to those that occurred during Hurricane Sandy.

PSE&G suggests that this investment may be recouped without affecting customer rates, which in New Jersey are already the 7th highest in the nation for residential customers and the 8th highest – 57% above the national average – for industrial customers. The truth is that a residential ratepayer, already struggling to pay some of the highest rates in the nation, and living in one of the highest cost-of-living states, using 12000 kwhs annually, would see their annual PSE&G bill increase by $100.80. An industrial ratepayer using 85 million kwhs per year would face an additional annual increase of $714,000. This massive increase on top of New Jersey’s already high electricity prices will continue to put the state’s large businesses at a competitive disadvantage.